Somersaults and Dreams: Going for Gold. Cate Shearwater

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CHAPTER

       Seven

      ‘OK, this is top secret, right?’ said Tam, as he and Ellie made their way across the darkened lawns the following evening. ‘Cos we’re not the only ones who’ll get in trouble if we’re found out.’

      ‘I understand,’ Ellie whispered, glancing around nervously. She’d noticed the rehabilitation centre when she’d arrived at the National Sports Training Centre. It was a modern building on the other side of the campus which housed state-of-the-art physiotherapy facilities for injured soldiers.

      ‘I spoke to one of the squaddies and he promised to leave a window open,’ Tam went on. ‘But he’ll be in big trouble with his unit commander if we get caught.’

      ‘How come he’s even helping us?’ asked Ellie.

      ‘His sister’s a mad-keen gymnast,’ Tam explained, checking that the coast was clear before sidling round the back of the rehabilitation centre building. ‘And he used to be pretty good himself before . . . you know.’

      Ellie nodded. Over the past few days she’d seen quite a few injured soldiers on the campus, on crutches or in wheelchairs. She found the idea of life after a war injury hard to even imagine. It made her ankle – which seemed to be getting worse rather than better – seem trivial in comparison. Not that she’d mentioned the getting-worse bit to Sam when she’d gone for her daily check up earlier, of course.

      ‘Here we are,’ said Tam, pushing himself through a bush to a low window that was half open. ‘He said he’d leave the window on the catch so we can climb in. Give me a leg up.’

      Ellie glanced around nervously. Tam’s secret training session idea was brilliant, but it was also totally against the rules. If anyone saw them using equipment unsupervised – let alone breaking into a facility after lights-out – it would mean instant dismissal from camp, and probably from National squad, for both of them. Tam was making light of it, but Ellie knew he was risking a lot for her sake.

      She remembered how she’d once thought she’d lost Tam’s friendship forever, when Robbie had been teasing him about being her boyfriend. She’d missed him like mad then, but she realised now that she never could have lost him. He was a true friend.

      But this was no time to start getting soppy. Tam hoiked Ellie up after him and she peered inside the open window. ‘Wow – there’s a fully equipped gym in here.’ She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this.

      ‘Get a move on!’ whispered Tam.

      Ellie managed to clamber in, then she grabbed Tam’s arm and dragged him over the sill, toppling him over so that he landed with a crash on top of her.

      ‘Ow . . . geroff ! Do you mind?’ he cried.

      They both dissolved into giggles.

      ‘You have no idea how much grief I’d get if the other boys could see me now!’ laughed Tam. Ellie shoved him off and they both jumped to their feet. Ellie could feel herself flushing, and for a moment she couldn’t look him in the eye. It was pretty dark in the unlit gym. Only the light of the street lamps flooded in through the high windows, but in it she could make out ropes and parallel bars, a vault and a tumble track, plus lots of other unfamiliar equipment which Ellie supposed must be for the soldiers’ physio sessions.

      ‘I reckon we’ve got an hour before lights-out,’ said Tam. ‘So get vaulting, Trengilly. The gym is all yours.’

      Ellie suddenly felt nervous. The vault here didn’t have a pit, so landing was going to be agony. ‘You can do a double Yurchenko, right?’ she asked Tam.

      Tam nodded. ‘Actually, I can do an Amanar,’ he admitted modestly.

      ‘Wow!’ said Ellie, although she didn’t know why she was surprised. Tam had won gold at British Champs – he was a dead cert for the boys’ Euros squad. Of course he could nail the Amanar!

      ‘So – um – maybe you can give me some tips?’ Ellie asked. She couldn’t quite shake off the shyness that had suddenly come over her now that it was just her and Tam, alone in the dark.

      But Tam was businesslike. ‘Love to!’ he grinned. ‘I’ve always fancied myself as a coach. Do I need to make you do a gruelling warm-up first?’

      ‘Don’t get carried away!’ laughed Ellie, pushing aside her awkwardness and focusing on what they’d come for.

      ‘Pain is power, Trengilly!’ Tam whispered in a fake Aussie accent that had them both doubled up.

      It turned out Tam was a great coach with a fantastic eye for detail. ‘Nice and square . . . keep your kneecaps tight . . . make your take-off higher . . . better.’

      Ellie was soon landing the double confidently. It hurt like mad and she was glad it was too dark in the gym for Tam to see the pained expression in her eyes. She was pretty sure he’d try to stop her if he knew how much she was hurting. ‘I want to try for an Amanar,’ she said.

      Tam squinted at her through the gloom. ‘You realise that needs a more powerful take-off ?’

      ‘You СКАЧАТЬ